The Foreign Service Journal, June 2015

64 JUNE 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS Foreign Service Journal Welcomes New Staff AFSA is pleased to welcome Maria C. Livingston to the communications team as the new associate editor/ writer for The Foreign Service Journal , responsible for AFSA News. Maria brings eight years of Foreign Service experi- ence with her to the job. As a public diplomacy-coned FSO, she served in Guatemala City, Mexico City, the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, and was detailed to the U.S. Executive Director’s Office at the World Bank. A New Mexico native, Maria has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where AFSA Speakers Bureau Grows In February, AFSA urged members to join our Speak- ers Bureau, which matches them with universities, orga- nizations and groups around the country who are seeking speakers for events. Events can range from college classes and World Affairs Councils to Kiwanis Clubs and book groups. AFSA helps these entities connect with an experienced member of the Foreign Service who can speak to a variety of geographic and functional topics, as well as life in the Foreign Service. The response to our call for new members has been amazing. AFSA’s Speakers Bureau nearly doubled in size to more than 300 members. We’ve received new requests for speakers to present to high school students, university clubs, alumni groups, civic and religious groups and profes- sional associations. We are also asking AFSA members to proactively seek out groups and venues, rather than waiting for the public to ask for speakers. However, we need your help to address a mismatch in geographic representa- tion. More than 70 percent of Speakers Bureau volunteers (220 members) are based in the Washington, D.C., area. Only 10 members are in Cali- fornia, seven in Florida, and the remaining are scattered around the country. Eighteen states have no Speakers Bureau members. We urge you to join the Speakers Bureau, especially if you live outside the Washing- ton, D.C., area. Visit www.afsa. org/speakers to sign up. And if you want to recommend a venue that could use an AFSA speaker, send an email to retiree@afsa.org with “Speak- ers Bureau Opportunity” in the subject line. We’ll send speakers an electronic information packet with basic informa- tion on AFSA and the Foreign Service. In addition, we’ll mail you a free copy of Inside a U.S. Embassy , which you c an use for personal reference or offer to your host or as a door prize for the event. We look forward to con- tinuing and growing support from AFSA members for the Speakers Bureau, a privilege of AFSA membership that builds our Foreign Service legacy. n —Todd Thurwachter, Retiree Counselor AFSASpeaker FSO Robin Diallo addresses high school students at the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security on March 26 inWashington, D.C. Hosted by Envision, the forum gave students the chance to learn firsthand about life as a Foreign Service officer fromAFSA speakers. she was editor of the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy . For the past year and a half, Maria has been a valued member of the FSJ Editorial Board. She is married to a Foreign Service officer whom she met in her A-100 class, and they live in Rockville, Maryland. We are delighted to have Maria on board. n COURTESYOFENVISION Maria C. Livingston